[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 75 (Thursday, June 15, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1018-E1019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND EDUCATION, AND 
               RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. MAX SANDLIN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 14, 2000

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 4577) making 
     appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human 
     Service, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal 
     year ending September 30, 2001, and for other purposes:

  Mr. SANDLIN. Mr. Chairman, today we voted on H.R. 4577, the Labor, 
Health and Human Services, and Education bill for fiscal year 2001 (FY 
2001). On behalf of the educators, administrators and students in East 
Texas, I would like to express my strong opposition to the education 
appropriations outlined in this measure. The inadequate overall funding 
in H.R. 4577 completely undermines the public prioritization of 
education as a paramount concern in 2000.
  Make no mistake--these education cuts come as no surprise. Beginning 
with the passage of the House budget resolution for FY 2001, my 
Republican colleagues have shown their true intentions with regard to 
education funding. As passed, the budget resolution provide $56.8 
billion for 2001 appropriations for education, training, employment, 
and social services--almost $5 billion less than the level provided in 
the House Democratic budget and the President's budget. The conference 
agreement on the budget would eliminate Head

[[Page E1019]]

Start for more than 40,000 children and their families and provide 
316,000 fewer Pell Grants to low-income students by 2005.
  If enacted, these cuts would have serious consequences on the future 
of our schools and our children. Although our children have no 
legislative voice, they represent our nation's future and deserve our 
investment in their education today. As it stands, H.R. 4577 would cut 
funding for reading tours, teacher quality initiatives, bilingual 
instruction, class size reduction, school modernization, violence 
prevention initiatives, afterschool services and many other vital 
programs.
  Specifically, the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill would 
cut $1 billion in targeted investments to improve teacher quality and 
recruit new teachers. Further, it would completely repeal last year's 
bipartisan commitment to hire 100,000 new teachers to reduce class size 
in the early grades. H.R. 4577 also would ignore our disadvantaged 
children by eliminating Head Start assistance to 53,000 children, 
cutting bilingual instruction to 143,000 students, ending college 
preparation assistance for 644,000 low-income middle and high school 
students and denying school violence prevention aid to 40 urban, 
suburban and rural communities.
  If enacted, H.R. 4577 would be a grave disservice to our children and 
the future of our nation. For these reasons and more, I oppose the 
unsatisfactory education funding levels in this appropriations bill.
  Unfortunately, underfunded education initiatives is not the only 
problem with this bill. Particularly offensive is the language in the 
bill that would prohibit the Occupational Safety and Health 
Administration (OSHA) from using funds to advance its ergonomics 
standard. Each year, our nation's workers experience almost two million 
work-related musculoskeletal disorders from overexertion or repetitive 
motion injuries due to unsatisfactory working conditions. A third of 
these injuries result in lost workdays and decreased worker 
productivity.
  As a result of limiting funding to implement the ergonomics standard 
for the past five years, America's workers have lost approximately $45 
million in workers compensation and other related costs while failing 
to prevent 1.5 million disabling injuries. It is time for Congress to 
provide relief to the hundreds of thousands of workers who continue to 
suffer these painful injuries by allowing OSHA to move forward with its 
safety standard for work-related ergonomic hazards.
  H.R. 4577 also fails to provide the requested adequate levels of 
funding to further workforce development by eliminating employment 
services assistance for over 400,000 dislocated workers. In addition, 
this bill cuts millions of dollars of requested funding levels for 
programs specifically designed to improve working conditions while 
providing the means to protect employment insurance, wages and 
pensions. As corporations continue to maximize their profits through 
mergers, the need for Congress to look after the health, safety and 
welfare of working families is now more pressing than ever.
  Finally, this legislation lacks appropriate funding levels for health 
care and senior citizen programs. Even as my Republican colleagues 
bemoan the state of health care, they refuse to fund the necessary 
programs to increase access and decrease costs. H.R. 5477 denies $125 
million requested by the President for over 250,000 Americans with 
long-term care needs. This bill eliminates $36 million to ensure that 
1.6 million elderly and disabled receive quality nursing care. 
Additionally, instead of working to ensure that retiring Americans 
receive their Social Security benefits in a timely manner, H.R. 5477 
cuts Social Security Administrative expenses by $156 million. The 
result of this cut will be increased waiting times for 26 million 
individuals and delayed claims for 100,000 individuals.
  H.R. 5477 does not only neglect the elderly and the disabled, but it 
also targets children for critical health program cuts. Rather than 
meeting the President's request for funding for mental health treatment 
services, this bill cuts $40 million from programs to care for 2,200 
children with serious mental illnesses and blocks grants to 50 
communities to reach individuals not currently receiving services 
within the mental health system. Finally, H.R. 5477 falls $44 million 
short of the amount needed to adequately address substance abuse 
treatment for over 28,000 addicted individuals seeking treatment.
  Clearly, I cannot support this bill as written. In its current form, 
this legislation is nothing less than an insult to the American people. 
It inadequately and irresponsibly allocates money to Labor, Health and 
Human Services, and Education. However, should this bill return from 
the Senate with the appropriate funding levels, I will gladly support 
it. I sincerely hope we can work out the problems and pass a 
responsible bill that responds to the needs of our children, workers, 
and elderly citizens.

                          ____________________